Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
The American mental health system is broken beyond repair. Rather than trying to tweak a system which fails everyone, it is time to commit to a bold vision for a better way forward. This podcast explores the American system against the plumb line of an international best practice, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in Trieste, Italy. The 40-year old Trieste model demonstrates how a community-based treatment system upholds the human rights of the people served. The Trieste story is anti-institutional and models the therapeutic value of social connection. Topics will address contemporary challenges in the American failed mental health system as contrasted with the Italian approach toward accoglienza – or radical hospitality – as the underpinning of their remarkable culture of caring for people. Interviews will touch upon how the guiding principles of the Italian system – social recovery, whole person care, system accountability, and the human right to a purposeful life – are non-negotiable aspects if we are to have any hope of forging a new way forward in our American mental health system. This podcast is curated and hosted by Kerry Morrison, founder and project director of Heart Forward LA (https://www.heartforwardla.org/). Heart Forward is collaborating with Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound as the technical partner in producing this podcast (https://www.verdugosound.com). Kerry Morrison is also the author of the blog www.accoglienza.us.
Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
Part Two of our conversation with Dr. Mezzina and Dr. Sashidharan: Family relationships, law enforcement, human rights and mental health in the time of coronavirus
This is the second of a two-part conversation with Dr. Roberto Mezzina and Dr. S. P. Sashidharan that brings Season One of this podcast to a close.
Roberto joins from Trieste Italy where he served for 40 years in the Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, and most recently headed their world-renowned mental health system. Dr. S.P. Sashidharan calls in from Glasgow and both were part of a small delegation invited to Los Angeles in September 2018 to tour our systems as part of a collaboration between Trieste and Los Angeles County.
In this interview, we complete the recollection from their September 2018 visit to Los Angeles. They discuss a meeting that was organized with parents of loved ones with mental illness. We discussed how families are marginalized in the American mental health system and how traumatic that may be for all involved.
They also discuss their impressions from spending time with members of the Mental Evaluation Units for both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. In Trieste, the last entity one would call for a mental health crisis is law enforcement, but in the U.S., law enforcement has been pulled into this, not by their design. In this case, what they observed was compassionate and professional.
We also explore the closure of forensic hospitals in Italy and the transfer of individuals into small therapeutic communities.
Finally, we touch upon the respect paid in Trieste to human rights for people with mental health problems – a concept which is not particularly prevalent in our American system. And in this time of Covid, all people may be experiencing the pandemic of loneliness. Social connections are frayed; there may be lasting lessons and sensitivities that come out of this collective experience that may inform reforms in the future.
Guests
Dr. Roberto Mezzina, International School Franca and Franco Basaglia and former director of the WHO Collaborating Centre, DSM, Trieste, Italy.
Dr. S.P. Sashidharan, Institute of Health and Well Being, University of Glasgow.
Financial Support
To donate to support the expenses of producing this Heart Forward podcast, a contribution of any amount is appreciated:
Heart Forward LA - Main Giving Page (networkforgood.com)
With appreciation
Our collaborating partner Peer Mental Health
Technical support and podcast editing: Paul Robinson
Resources
World Health Organization (WHO) Quality Rights Initiative
Mental health at the age of coronavirus: time for change (nih.gov)